CROOKED STILL: Shaken by a Low Sound

Crooked Still

Shaken by a Low Sound

© 2006 Signature Sounds (701237200026)

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Rock energy coexists with old-time mountain soul and high, heavenly vocals.

tracks

1 Can't You Hear Me Callin'
2 Little Sadie
3 New Railroad
4 Oxford Town/Cumberland Gap
5 Lone Pilgrim
6 Come On In My Kitchen
7 Ain't No Grave
8 Ecstacy
9 Mountain Jumper
10 Railroad Bill
11 Wind and Rain

notes

Meet Crooked Still, the hot young alternative bluegrass group on a mission to bend the boundaries of traditional music. The unlikely combination of banjo, cello, and double- bass drives this low lonesome band, whose soaring vocals and high-wire solos have enraptured audiences all over North America and Ireland since 2001. Four very unique musical personalities merge to form Crooked Still. Aoife O'Donovan's refined, sultry vocals float over Rushad Eggleston's rumbling cello riffs, Dr. Gregory Liszt's futuristic four-finger banjo rolls and Corey DiMario's pulsing bass lines. The resulting acoustic fusion can warp a traditional American tune to the brink of unrecognizability without sacrificing the authenticity of the original sources. "It's almost like we're going back and making imaginary history,'' says Eggleston, whose versatile cello style has already sparked a revolution among young cellists. ``What if the 1920s Appalachian musicians could've heard the music we hear now?''

In the spring of 2001, singer O'Donovan and bassist DiMario were classmates at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. Unbeknownst to them at the time, just across the river in the laboratories of MIT a young cellist named Rushad Eggleston from the Berklee College of Music met every night to jam with Greg Liszt, then a graduate student and aspiring banjo player. A serendipitous meeting at a late-night party brought all four of these musicians together for the first time, and Crooked Still was born in the summer of that year.

As its members finished school, Crooked Still frequently performed around Boston, collecting rave reviews from the local press, notably the Boston Globe, Northeast Performer, and the Boston Herald. The band's fan base grew until it became almost impossible to get into the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge when Crooked Still took the stage. A trip to the North American Folk Alliance in 2004 resulted in invitations to perform at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and historic Newport Folk Festival. Hop High, the debut album from Crooked Still, was released at the prestigious Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in July, 2004 and was the top-selling CD at the festival that year. Following the success of this first festival appearance, Crooked Still has appeared at concert halls, nightclubs, coffeehouses, and festivals in twenty-three states and three different countries. This grassroots endeavor frequently lands Hop High among the top ten best selling CD's at CD Baby.

reviews

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  • Good sound, different theme
    author: Matt Kuhns

    I love the first Crooked Still CD (Hop High) and really looked forward to this one. More great music, and Aoife O'Donovan's voice is a pleasure to listen to. This CD was not quite what I expected, though, in being a bit lighter on heartbreak or violent mishaps, and a bit heavier on praise Jesus. If that's your thing, you're in luck; otherwise, the CD is almost worth it for "Come On In My Kitchen," by itself.

  • Crooked Still is Totally excellente
    author: Drew E. P.

    Listen to the music samples; Crooked Still is great!

  • What a great find!
    author: Meagan

    Such a great mix of bluegrass, folk and whatever else you might want to call it! Really, this is my favorite find of the year thus far.

  • As with their last CD, truly fine
    author: Eliot

    It is the mixture of beautiful Voice with mesmerizing cello, and classic bluegrass banjo, and the solid bass that makes me come back for more. Wonderful again!

  • Can't stop listening to Crooked Still
    author: Thom and jesikah

    It's Saturday Morning wake up music, Friday night dancin' in the living room music. Can't wait 'til ya'll come to the Palms Playhouse in Winters, CA.

  • you need to buy it
    author: Debbie Shouse

    I love their music. It is a great cd. They need their name to be out more. They will go far, they are very talented

  • My favorite album this year!
    author: Dan Williams

    I have decided that this my favorite album this year and I listen to alot of diverse stuff : bluegass,oldtime,blues, folk and some rock. The way the banjo,cello and bass come together is amazing. Good job!

  • Hauntingly enchanting music from four incredible musicians & guests
    author: Geoff Stelling

    The previous reviews sum it up quite well. I've never heard a more provocative recording of cello and bass teamed up with brilliant banjo playing and a beautiful voice. It is one CD I can listen too several times a day and still feel the same excitement and enthusiasm as I had the first time I heard it. It makes me quite proud to hear a Stelling banjo used in such a charismatic context.

  • Vocals and instruments bring new life to old ballads and fiddle tunes
    author: Dan Ratner

    This review is written for both Crooked Still CD’s – Shaken by a Low Sound and Hop High. They are so similar they could be part of a double album. These CDs are unique in their combination of traditional bluegrass instruments – guitar, fiddle, banjo – with a cello and double bass. Anyone who has heard the Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer duets on banjo and double bass, and wanted more of Edgar playing bluegrass rather than Bela playing classical pieces will enjoy these CDs. The tonal range of the instruments really make up a wonderful sound tapestry. If you have dropped a bundle on a good sound system and need to justify it to your significant other, play these CD’s for her. The bass notes just go right through you. The tracks are a combination of old mountain ballads with some up-tempo fiddle tunes that are quite infectious. My 15 year-old son, who has no use for anything older than rock and roll, is mad at me because I played Crooked Still in the car and now he can’t get “Angeline the Baker” out of his head. If you don’t need convincing to appreciate old fiddle tunes and ballads, then these CD’s are definitely for you. I’ve often heard a great old tune and wondered, “these guys are such great musicians – don’t they know that they can’t sing?”. Aoife O’Donovan’s vocals are just what I’ve been pining for. How much you like some of the slower ballads may depend on how you feel about songs that end up with a pretty girl dead and either her lover whining about getting caught or a musician playing heartbreaking music on an instrument made from her various body parts (how exactly do you make a fiddle from a breast bone?). Oddly enough, it is the personal, affecting quality of Aoife O’Donovan’s voice that brings the songs alive and makes you aware of how silly so many of the lyrics are. Oh, and if you have read about Gregory Liszt’s experiments with a 4-finger banjo picking technique, don’t expect anything too different from straight-ahead (but quite good) bluegrass picking. To my ear, I may have heard some triplets turned into quadruplets, but otherwise, I think the fourth finger was mostly resting.

  • Brand new takes on great old songs
    author: Paul Kaperick

    These guys take old standards and put the Crooked Still twist on them! There are traces of Classical and Jazz mixed into these old Mountain Music and Blues tunes. Very Musical!

  • Great Music, Fine Vocals.
    author: paul garger

    This is a contemporary acoustic band to listen to, and to keep an eye on for further releases. Some great interpretations of some old tunes.

  • Another Incredible Album by Crooked Still
    author: Woland

    This is the second CD from Crooked Still, and it's just as great as their debut album 'Hop High.' From the the incredible sound of Aoife O'Donovan's voice to the virtuoso banjo playing of Gregory Lizst, and the sometimes painful wailing of Corey DiMario's double bass and Rushad Eggleston's cello, this is a follow-up that doesn't disappoint. My favorites here are Little Sadie, New Railroad, Come Into My Kitchen, Ecstasy, and Wind and Rain. 'Shaken by a Low Sound' is a wonderful CD, and if you ever get a chance to hear them live, don't miss it. Hoping for more great things from Crooked Still!

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